Rafael Nadal is already having to battle in this year of his No. 1 ranking defense. Today, in what should have been a easy match on paper, Nadal was pushed to three sets in a 76, 06, 63 win over Lukas Lacko.

I can’t recall the last time Nadal lost a 60 set! But he says there was a reason.

Afterward, Nadal said he wasn’t 100% because of a fever that required medication. Rafa says tomorrow against Ernests Gulbis he still may not be at full strength which might mean trouble even if he beats Gulbis Thursday. In the quarterfinals he plays the winner of Karlovic-Davydenko, two players with the ability to worry Rafa even when he is healthy.

I take some exception with him playing doubles. If he is sick and on meds why risk doubles or even continuing in singles at the expense of dragging out the fever into Australia? And Rafa still has a long flight from Doha to Melbourne.

Here’s Nadal post match presser from today:

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Are you proud of the way you fought?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I think I didn’t play bad, no? But I think he played really good, really good match.
I wasn’t physically 100%, no? I had fever two days ago. Last night wasn’t perfect, too.
So I felt with less power than usual. I feel a little bit tired for the moments, and that’s what happened in the second and in the third. I was 4-0, and with 4-0, I know that the match wasn’t done.
So it was important victory for me for the situation, because Lacko played, I think, very well, and I had to be there and fight all the time to win, so is important victory for me.

Q. What did you tell yourself at the start of the third set?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, when I lost the serve for the second time in the second, I didn’t fight anymore, because I say, Well, we gonna rest a little bit now and try my best in the third.
I just know what I had to do to play a little bit better, no? I know I had to change the rhythm of the ball, play with a little bit more slice, with more topspin balls, high balls, and tried to change a little bit the rhythm, because he was touching the ball fantastic, and I didn’t have enough power to have pain him with my shots, no?
So I had to change a little bit and play a little bit more, with more strategy than usual.

Q. Are you taking any medicine or seeing the doctor?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, sure, no? I am taking anti-inflammatories, I am taking antibiotics, and that’s all that what can I — I can, you know, how is the rules, and I can’t take a lot of things, no?

Q. Did you hesitate to play this morning? Did you hesitate to play this match?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, no, no. I didn’t consider that. I always know I gonna play, yeah.

Q. And in doubles, too?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. Well, especially I know today, with all the respect, wasn’t really difficult match in doubles, and maybe just be there and try to help a little bit my friend and play. And for me is good practice now.
I know was a little bit tired for me after the tough match in singles going doubles. For that reason I go straight from the singles to the doubles and tried to play, focus on doubles. Worked well. We won. That’s positive thing, and we are in semifinals in doubles. Happy for that.
Right now tomorrow gonna be another day. That’s still a good practice for me, play a lot of hours on court, because Australia is in one week and a half, and play long matches there, for sure, so that’s good.

Q. Do you think you will be able to be 100% tomorrow?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. I think I gonna be a little bit tired, but I am here to try my best. For sure my goal is to try to win tomorrow and try to be at my 100%.

Q. Almost the same thing you met today, for Federer met so many difficulties to win his match. What does this mean for the two best classified players compared to the others? Can we wait for something, for surprises?
RAFAEL NADAL: We never won easy, never; not this year, not last year, not two years ago and not three, five years ago.
The tour is very difficult. All the players are very competitive. They are very good professionals and very good tennis players, everybody here.
You can lose and hope win against everybody. That’s the sport, and I know when I go on court I can win and I can lose. For Roger I think is the same.

Q. You don’t feel privileged? You don’t have feel you have privilege compared to the other players?
RAFAEL NADAL: What kind of privilege?

Q. That you are No. 1.
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, the ranking says I am the No. 1 now, but when you go on court, doesn’t matter if you are No. 1 or No. 10. When you go on court, gonna win, the player who plays better that day.
And if Lacko play better than me today, he will beat me anyway if he is the 50 and I am No. 1. When I am playing, I am not thinking if I am No. 1. I am thinking about try to play well and try to win the match. I think the opponent thinks the same.

That’s not how it is pigirl. You know how you can go up and down with cold/flu-like symptoms. Also, beck didn’t play nearly as well as lacko, and the physical signs (sweating, coughing) were not as pronounced in Rafa yesterday. Simply put, the cold is taking its course and just now the press is coming right out and asking. Nothing more. It’s January 5th, can we hold off on the suspicious attitudes for the year just yet?! BTW, this is a massive fed fan speaking :)

pigirl1, in the future you might want to consider researching the facts before making accusations. nadal revealed he had a fever after his match vs beck, before his match vs lacko. i don’t if you know it, but he’s not exempted from sickness.

if you are looking for some nitpicky, meaningless and petty stuff to start whining about before these guys can complete one tournament, then i’m sure you will find it!

it’s not uncommon nor surprising that nadal would suffer with flu-like symptoms after spenting most of his off-season participating in charities, sponorships, etc.. add to that, the effects that a change in climate can sometimes have on a body that hasnt gotten the proper rest! be patient, give the guys a chance to get into the season. i’m sure you will find more than enough to hit nadal over the head with later.

Nadal has been bageled at least ten times (he was bageled at least twice by Federer.at Wimby 06 and Hamburg 07).

A TALE OF TWO ILLNESSES: NADAL AND FEDERER

If Nadal had a serious fever, the ATP doctor would have advised him to stop playing (for fear of a potentially fatal outcome if he plays).

How bad could Nadal’s mild illness really be if — after spending 2.4 hours playing singles — Nadal still has enough energy and fitness to go out and win a doubles match?

If Nadal was really ill, he would have pulled the plug. Unlike Federer, Nadal is a player who is willing to retire or withdraw from a match if something is wrong (after all, he did retire from a grand slam match, just three games from losing the match to Murray at the last AO).

Nadal’s obviously mild illness was accepted as truth.

And his mild illness was sensationalized for its impact on the Lacko match, as well as its future impact on the Gulbis match, the possible Davydenko/Karlovic match, Nadal’s Australian Open campaign and his No. 1 ranking defense. One little illness was used for a string of excuses.

__________________________________________

There seem to be different standards in the way Nadal’s mild illness is reported compared to the way Federer’s more severe lung infection was reported last February:

“Lung Infection Not Contagious, Federer at Dubai Player Party
by Tom Gainey
Roger Federer lung infection may keep him off the tennis circuit but not the party circuit. With video evidence below, Federer appeared briefly at the Dubai player party at the Aviation Club last night looking rather well and fashionable… I think the very fact that Federer went can’t be a bad sign can it?”http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2010-02-24/3392.php

In early February 2010, viral illness struck the Federer family. According to Mary Carillo, Mary Joe Fernandez told her that after the Australian Open, Federer, Mirka and their babies took a two-week vacation in the Swiss mountains. Carillo: “But they made a rookie parenting error. They decided not to take nannies with them. Then the kids get sick. Mirka gets sick and is in the hospital (note: she was apparently hospitalized for three days), so now it’s Roger with a sick Mirka and sick baby twins and then he got a lung infection. So he isn’t feeling great. He doesn’t get any rest and doesn’t practice. And that guy grinds. So I’m not that surprised that he doesn’t get the traction he’s used to having.”

However, before Federer himself fell sick, he made a planned charity visit to Ethiopia on February 12, where his foundation supports two schools and 700 kids.

A few days after returning from Africa, Federer fell ill with a bad lung infection, probably February 16. He told the Swiss newspaper Blick: “After the Australian Open I took it fairly easy… so there’s no question of it being from strain. Last Tuesday, I practiced and it quickly went downhill. I felt chills, fever, a lot of pain in my ribs and couldn’t breather normally.” He said he could not get out of bed, was fatigued and slow. Doctors advised him to stop training for at least 2 to 6 weeks. That wiped out Federer’s annual Dubai training block and forced him to withdraw from the Dubai tournament.

A mountain of a molehill is being made out of Nadal’s mild illness (and injuries), even though he is old enough to make decisions on whether or not he is fit to play (which he obviously feels he is). Yet Federer’s far more serious ailments were treated frivolously, even though it cascaded into a subpar four months for Federer. It just seems to be a clear case of double standards, even if it is rationalized as not.

Finally, in his interview, Nadal claimed that he tanked that second set where he got bageled 0-6. He also started his interview immediately elaborating on his illness. Gosh, Federer would have been skewered by journalists had he said what Nadal said.

Don’t take this stuff too seriously. Both Fed & Rafa have put in a lot this past year, and even more towards charity = time than most players. It is not surprising that they are under the weather ( who doesn’t have a period of illness or otherwise during the year?) if they are. The point here is own up to it, play through it with no excuses or don’t play. Otherwise the guy u play against is what? Mincemeat? A nobody that u can use an excuse when u lose or have a tough match? Just sayin….

Besides I think they held hands to much during there time together lately, that is the real issue here :), no? Why are they both sick? Another just saying…..

Dave- its a nice post!
But I think we can all relax a little, no one should be taking anything too seriously just yet. If Rafa is really sick and there are problems in the next couple weeks it months, we will have to evaluate everything a bit differently.
I think those who have pointed to both of them having a little sniffed/fever are really onto something here. Nobody else is sick, and nobody has been spending the last few weeks together in tiny Mercedes, private jets, and boats. Not to mention any other places we didn’t see on.camera!

in the real world, people get sick, injured, fatigued…there are excuses for playing bad. it’s all very well saying if you go on court you’re in good enough shape to play, but being able to play doesn’t mean you can play your best tennis.
the ‘no excuses’ rhetoric is just an affectation.

davydenko played with a broken wrist for a couple of weeks. he was capable of going on court. even winning. but to say that isn’t an excuse for a drop in form is clearly absurd.

and many cases of people in rehab, or playing through major injuries before finally succumbing to surgery. nalbandian, delpo in recent times and many many more.

having a genuine reason for playing poorly is not disrespecting an opponent, it’s just giving proper analysis to a result.

as a fan i like to know all the details so results can be put in context.
example. the bagel murray handed nadal in rotterdam was simply because nadal didn’t run in the final set and played it out to avoid withdrawing. not because murray found some amazing tactic to crush rafa.
to me that’s an important detail.
where as when nalbandian thumped nadal in paris if was out of skill alone.
when henin fell at wimbledon, it was later revealed she badly injured her arm. that was why she lost to clijsters not because clijsters outplayed her. another important detail i think.
so i like to know about injuries and other problems to help make sense of everything.

people argue if you can play and win there must be nothing wrong with you. or nothing significant. that’s the general argument.
davydenko’s situation proves that this is far from the truth.
you can compete and win with real problems and those problems are an excuse for a drop in form.
it’s an extreme example to show how stupid the ‘no excuses’ rhetoric is.

If you are injured, sick, and feel you can’t compete to win, then don’t play, if you play, then don’t whine about it. What is wrong with thqt logic?

This is not about one player, there is an opponent. He( the opponent ) may not be sick, tired, injured, and is struggling to make his/her own mark. If the injured/sick/not feeling well player wins, what does that say to the opponent? They are really bad?And if the opponent wins? Oh, the guy I played against was sick, so, uh….i was lucky to win. The logic is there……No?

fitness is part of the game, and maintaining fitness is part of the challenge. illness and injury are not exclusively products of chance. decisions that players make about their tournament schedule, their training schedule, the food that they eat and the company they keep are all part of the game. yes of course sometimes people just get sick, and of course sometimes there is freak accident that causes an injury no human could withstand, but “fitness” is part of what these guys are competing at. it is not a sideshow that disrupts the world of tennis, it is an integral part of tennis itself. you can only beat a player during the match if you are beating them at other times as well.

i agree with skeezer’s point that there is a tendency to diminish the wins of lower-ranked players when the top-ranked players they defeat are less than 100% – as if being 100% is a given unless you are highly ranked. being 100% is never a given for a player of any rank, and finding a way to stay in top form is part of the competition. skip the tourney or play, but own your decision. players are working way too hard on manipulation of the media machine and managing expectations, and not nearly hard enough on their immune system and proper rest/rehab/injury prevention.

antibiotics?? why? because of a fever ?? u give them when u have a serious bacterial infection of the respiratorial tract or some kind of abcess that can cause the fever but then he would say i have an abcess or a respirtory or ear infection etc. people should know that a normal virus infect needs anti- pyretics and lots of hydration…too much antibiotics nowadays too much resistent microorganisms.
i have a fever so i am taking antibiotics is simply not the perfect attitude so i guess exaggeration would be the name for it

Van orten- I thought about this antibiotics, maybe the doctors for this level of athlete just give everything for the quickest result and try to cover all bases. No worry about resistance just yet, that’s long term, they want the athlete healthy now.
With the anti-inflammatories and the antibiotics combo it sounds like they are trying to treat a respiratory infection.
Strange. I would blame it on nadal’ s English but antibiotics is exactly the same in Spanish ;)

Nadal has stated after the match with Beck in first round that he is suffering from fever.Again,he was asked about illness by the journalist after the match with Lacko.Nadal also gave credit to Lacko for his brilliant play.It is not as if suddenly after the match with Lacko he invented a reason for the bad play.People should try to understand the actual facts before they criticize baselessly.

Well, the same logic guy is saying apply for Fed in 08′ when he suffered from mono (ggod days bad days) and lost 4 times to Nadal, including that disastrous RG final. But Fed was crushe dbt the media and I haven’t saw a single Nadal fan who thought his illness was genuine.
Give me a break! Now that Nadal is Number 1, with all eyes on him and saying what he wants to say he is suffering from the same things Fed did.

By the way, Fed is playing great, almost all Troicki games he had break points.

Exactly “MYTENNIS”,
He didn’t just get sick at the begining of the of the second set against Lacko. The majority of comments on here are just turning this into a big deal for nothing. To me it seems that Nadal is just being honest about the situation, he said he is not feeling well and yet he played. He is not afraid to loose and therefore plays. He doesn’t retire from matches the way someone here stated earlier. Yes against Murray last year it seems he felt that aggravating the knee that was already injured was not a wise choice and so retired from that match. I recall many tiems where he would finish the match out of respect of his opponents.

On days when I have a cold, my enthusiasm at work may be lowered, and even though I am still capable of working, when I am feeling better, I may get the job done more effectively. Surely something like that applies for athletes too.

jane@10.59 indeedy, indeedy, over analysis leads to paralysis IMHO.
btw some nice pics of Andy and Nole at “murraysworld”-last page of “pictures.” Andy looks as if he’s dropped some weight. All to the good as we can’t have Mr. Rangy Murray turning into a fat boy ;) Someone at the tournament was saying Nole’s volleying looked improved :)
What would u do with Gulbis?? Poor shot selection and trying to be too cute, cost him that match. As Goodall said, why doesn’t he just play to his strengths, regardless of whose on the other side of the net? Forever the bridesmaid at this rate.

Margot, love the pics and love those two! Wish I were the girl with the white frilly top and large tennis ball standing between them, though I’d probably be starstruck. Lol. What to do with Gulbis? Maybe take away all his money and privileges so he really has to fight and think to win? Just kiddin. Goodall is right; Ernie needs to do what he does best and not try to showboat of get over-fancy. Just clean powerful baseline tennis is his ticket. Murray and Nole both look fit and raring to go, which is encouraging,

It’s his decision to play. He’s a big boy and can take responsibility for the consequences.

If he’s so sick, he can withdraw. No one would hold it against him.

This is the guy who couldn’t spare an hour to meet the Queen on her first visit to Wimbledon in decades because it would affect his preparations. Now he’s sick and doing doubles duty in addition to singles, a couple weeks before AO starts. What kind of impact is that going to have on his “preparations”, I wonder? Evidently he doesn’t think it’ll do much.

And the confession that he tanked the second set, well, that’s really quite shocking from the player who supposedly plays at 100% all the time. If Federer ever admitted to tanking even a single game he’d be crucified for poor sportsmanship and people would say he was being arrogant and taking his opponent too lightly.

I don’t think his present physical issues have very much to do with his illness, though he probably is suffering from a case of sniffles. I suspect that at AO Nadal will have made a miraculous recovery and there will be no sign whatsoever of the physical problems he’s been showing, and he will show the remarkable increase in power and speed that he always shows in the majors, but rarely anywhere else (except during the clay season).

It was not mandatory for any one to meet queen.Nadal`s match was to be held after some hours and so he wanted to prepare.Now he wants to prepare for Australian open by (practicing)playing even when evidently suffering from fever.So,both times Nadal has opted to prepare irrespective of the popular wish to do the contrary.He loves working hard.

If Nadal lost and he had given a reason for his loss, that would be acceptable. But why insult your opponent by saying that you defected him in-spite of being sick.

He was tired when he played his last match of 2010. He is sick when he played his first ATP match of 2011.Come on Nadal..stop making excuses. You were bagled by a low ranked players. Just eat the bagel and get over it.

Steve-O: Conserving energy (not fighting) is not the same as tanking. Tanking means you try to lose. Not fighting means you don’t run after every ball as hard as you can.

It is not a bug surprise (nor unique to Nadal) that players down a couple breaks will often look to the following set, rather than burning up a lot of energy on a set that is essentially lost. They are just trying to maximize their chance of winning the match; that’s match management.

If you don’t like Nadal, that’s fine. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But don’t try to dress it up as some kind of analysis…

of course many people don’t “need” a 5th set, which is a positive thing, and some have had longer careers than others on that list, which affects where he stands, but it’s just interesting to know, if so-and-so gets there, to a 5th, has he generally been more likely to win or not? Borg’s record is pretty awesome; he won 24 of 30 five set matches in his career.

Thanks for the full list jane! The fact that masters series stopped being 5 sets in…(help me out 07 maybe?) only slightly skews things, but it could work either way. A newer player hasnt had as many chances to play 5-setters (tsonga, eg) or on the occasions they have, they’be really shined (nadal).
Djokovic, nadal, Borg and sampras really stick out to me, and pete, regardless of whether or not he needed a fifth set, he won 33 of them!

Well, when I lost the serve for the second time in the second, I didn’t fight anymore, because I say, ‘well, we gonna rest a little bit now and try my best in the third’,” said Nadal.

I think Tennis fan (boston) has this one right, (it was about strategy, or “match management”) but as usual there are other things which may be relevant. For instance, perhaps Nadal was embarrassed by being bagelled by a relative unknown, and felt compelled to be honest to dispel any possible accusations of rank incompetence – an irony in itself, since frankness does not rank high among the Nadal characteristics. One might go on. But one desists. Except to point out that seeking out the truth from anyone in exacting situations is really quite difficult – ask a policeman, a torturer, a therapist. So it’s not sensible (imo) to lay too much weight on public statements by famous sportsmen, who have more to protect than most of us. Actually, part of the fun is reading in between the lines.

dari, yes I think you’re right; it was 07 that Masters Series finals and YEC switched to 3 sets. So yeah, that’d be another factor in terms of younger players not playing as many potential 5 set matches. Djoko and Nadal haven’t played as many five-setters as say Fed, Roddick, Borg, Sampras, Becker etc, so time will tell if their records remain as tidy as they look now. :) I was just pleased to see that Djoko can in fact last through long matches, and do well in them too, even though many people think the opposite about him.

I thought Federer was quite dazzling today. He was very, very enjoyable to watch. Even if he does nothing else in this tourney, his play in this match will leave a warm glow with me.

There were some strange stats, which imo only goes to show how very gingerly you need to treat them. I’m going on memory, but I think Fed had no aces, or maybe one? Pretty unusual, yet he served well, much more damagingly than the powerful Troicki – who had a few aces.
Federer had a huge number of break points, but didn’t convert that many. Is this good or bad? Bad say some, but I don’t see it like that – it was just part of his overall domination, and he broke quite enough to do the job. I think the UE’s to winners ratio was 23 to 18. Very surprising in itself, and furthermore Troicki had fewer UE’s. What possible sense can one make of this? First of all, who decides what a UE is? Second, what exactly is a UE? They are not all the same, are they, not by a long chalk. A lot of Federer’s errors came from him deliberately forcing the pace, taking a chance when he could afford to do so, i.e. it didn’t really matter whether he got the point or not, so much was he in control. That’s not at all the same as chancing your arm in a sort of desperation when it looks like you’re always struggling to win the long rallies. In fact, Federer’s taking risks was sensible in the context of the match – which was clearly his – in the sense of being a form of practice.
Finally, very encouraging was the winner/loss ratio at the net. This was particularly good in the light of the number of times he went to the net, especially compared to Troicki.

o.k., Troicki was not at his best. But he is a very good player, and Federer’s dismissal of him is worthy of comment, and I haven’t seen much. And to repeat, what a joy to watch. Noone can make you purr like Federer.

Noting Matt Ebden’s progress at Brisbane, and having no idea who he is, I came across this engaging profile.

I like the sound of him, but all the same hope Soderling wins. Roddick looks to be in tremendous form, and a Sod/Rod final is definitely one to look forward to. If Soderling can beat a Roddick at the top of his game, this will be , I reckon, genuinely informative. I still tend to think of Roddick at his best as being the closest to the top 4. I don’t feel Soderling has quite earned that position. Victory over Roddick would change that.

dunbar,i’ve enjoyed your words today. missed the match, but i’ve seen a couple down-hearted posts from you when fed is not as his best, so if you’re pleased, i feel i should be too!

after yesterday’s odd match, the sight of good form is very welcome.
at this point, i don’t mind if he loses to tsonga tomorrow, thats an extra day’s rest.
but if he gets to the final, i want him to win it. no use in another day’s energy without bringing home the trophy.
So… best to rog!

Even if Soda wins this match, he’d still have to beat Steps. Roddick has Anderson in the semis, so I think he’ll get to the finals but Steps could upset Soda and be the other finalist. In fact Steps beat Soda here last year. I am hoping for a Soda vs Roddick final though.

Definition of a fact: something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed e.g. that Thomas Hardy was a real person is an undisputed fact

Definition of an excuse: an explanation offered in defence of some fault or offensive behaviour or as reason for not fulfilling an obligation e.g. he gave an excuse for his rudeness.

(both courtesy of the Oxford English dictionary)

Nadal’s illness is a fact, you would have to be blind not to see that or determined not to let facts get in the way of favoured conclusions!

His explanation (in response to a question by a journalist) for not performing to his expected standard is his illness (a fact). A valid excuse.

Key is whether an excuse is based on fact or fiction. If it is based on fiction, it is not valid…..then bash the offender all you like. If it is based on fact, it is valid……….then bashing the “offender” reflects more on you and your prejudices rather than Nadal’s intentions.

As for the notion that Nadal (or anybody else for that matter) should not own up to a fact because it demeans his opponent………………..sigh.

How about r@fatards accept that and enjoy the tennis and give us “reasons” why it happened. considering the physical issues nadal has, one would think he is a 40yr old not 25years old, like he is.

Look at the sampras or the fed generation. think about federer/roddick/hewitt or even safin. no “reasons” or excuses offered. You play and move on. these same r@fatards made fun of roger’s mono/back issues. or nole’s 1001 physical problems. now they talk about fact/fiction? OK!

when was the last time nadal played without any issue? it is knee, shoulder, abdomen, flu, fatigue. COME ON! the only fact is you win or you lose. rest all don’t matter. nadal better stop these “reasons” before someone calls him like roddick called on nole.

rafa was running like crazy on the court in the 1st and 3rd sets of the match. so how does it matter if he had the flu or not? i am not so sure he could have done better than that even if he did not feel ill.

OMG we’re two minutes into 2011 and the boring, bashing has started. Think I’ll take up watching tiddlywinks…….
Yay England! I know nobody in the Americas can have the foggiest idea about another beautiful game ..but take it from me, our boys done good, very, very good!

Actually, Swiss Maestro, it’s two victories (series) on the trot. Most unusual. Not only that, but the manner of this one. For instance, each of the 3 victories (in this series) was won by an innings (for non-cricketers, suffice to say that this indicates an overwhelming defeat of the opposition) – that’s never happened before.

That said, you have a point Swiss Maestro. This Aussie team is frighteningly weak. I hope Australian cricket doesn’t go the way of Australian tennis. It’s fun to beat the Aussies when they’re full of themselves, not just because they are then quite unbearable but because they tend to be overloaded with ridiculously talented and tough competitors. And they have always come out of nowhere, too.

dunbar: agree 2005 was more impressive cos the opposition was better. Freddy was magnificent that year wasn’t he? Just seen he’s doing some sort of reality show. Was really upset, it’s like seeing some fabulous bull elephant in a circus. Injuries are a b****r. However, beating Aussies always brings a happy smile to my face, whoever we’re playing, so completely unmuted fun!

6-4 H2H for davydenko. so, maybe the federer era was not so weak. considering this was one of the many guys fed thrashed regularly and nadal still lost 4 straight to davy. oh well, he did not beat a fit nadal, i suppose.

Swiss Maestro: Good heavens, we agree on somethings. :) I loathe 99% of British media. How they love to unrealistically blag people up and then gleefully bring them down. It’s all a nasty dance. Andy needs to ignore them and put himself in a cocoon, perhaps that’s what he is trying to do?

If Nadal is so “sick” why keep playing doubles. After this loss to Davydenko where he made it apparent to all how “sick and exhausted” he was, he goes out and helps Lopez whip to “healthy” opponents in straight sets…. whatever. It’s amazing how many commentators, writers and fans buy in to the Nadal “I only lose because something is wrong with me” magic potion…